If Nothing Lasts, Then What Is Happiness?
If Nothing Lasts, Then What Is Happiness?
A great sign of progress is being able to find peace in the down moments, to not get swallowed up in sorrow because things are not going your way, but instead to find balance in the understanding of impermanence, the knowing that nothing can last forever.
To become attached to the dream that a point will come in your life where everything will henceforth be pleasant, good, and agreeable is a trap that sets us up for even greater mental suffering. The ups and downs of life are simply unavoidable. It is our reaction to the down moments that makes them worse, reacting with tension only fills us up with more tension.
A mind that feels less pain and tension is a mind that has taken its appreciation of change to a deeper level. The understanding of change opens the door to wisdom. It helps us live with presence and with less attachments. It helps us ease our resistance when an ending is upon us. Most importantly, it helps us love now.
The biggest resistance toward the freedom of change is the ego. The ego seeks to stand still and exist permanently while change swims forward in a constant flow. The ego wishes to be the center of all things while change knows that the river of existence has no point that is more important than another. The ego will ignore change and attach itself to what is pleasant, quickly forgetting that pleasant things are also washed away by time.
If nothing lasts, then what is happiness? Happiness is not possession or pleasure, these two are too fleeting to be dependable. Happiness is the letting go of craving and no longer being dominated by the endless pursuit of control. When you let go of wanting what you like to be permanent and wishing what you dislike to never have happened, you allow the fluidity of wisdom to enter your mind. Getting stuck in the loop of always craving for more is one of the fastest ways to fill your mind with struggle. The extremes of control and resistance, or better stated, craving and aversion, keep the mind locked in tension, never really allowing it to fully embrace reality for what it is.
Happiness is ultimately mental freedom, which is felt as the spaciousness that comes with being deeply present to what is happening now without being attached to it. Happiness is letting yourself feel without expecting any of it to always remain the same. Happiness is the peace and mental clarity that comes when you allow love to guide you while moving through life with a balanced mind that does not fear endings. What you have is the moment in front of you and only in the actual moment can you live life fully.
Clarity & Connection:
I was notified earlier today that copies of Clarity & Connection have run out in a part of Europe, there is a chance that may start happening in the United States too. Books are normally printed in big batches and then shipped to vendors, when the batch runs out more books are printed, but sometimes for new books there is a lag time of a few weeks before they are available again. If you want your copy sooner rather than later, now is a good time to order.
I created Clarity & Connection as a companion and tool of support for anyone on their journey. I hope it can serve as fuel to help you overcome hurdles, reinforce your determination and assist you in building the self-awareness that is needed to create a better life.
Below is a sneak peek of Clarity & Connection that I haven’t shared anywhere else yet.
Journal Prompt:
Lately, what has been your relationship to the present moment? Is there a way for you to connect with it more deeply? Have you found the balance between allowing reality to be what it is and continuing to pursue your goals?
Links:
Clarity & Connection USA (34% off, lowest price online)
Clarity & Connection Barnes & Noble